A major research project which will help Australians understand the experiences of thousands of children who were hidden in institutions and forgotten by society has been launched in Sydney.
A research team led by the University of NSW will undertake a two-year national study in which care leavers will be asked about the impacts of their time in state or non-government children's homes.
It is estimated that as many as 500,000 Australians were in care between 1930 and 1989 and often experienced neglect, mistreatment and abuse.
Peter McClellan, who chairs the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, launched the research project at UNSW on Wednesday.
He described it as "an important day for the people we have come to know as the Forgotten Australians".
In a keynote address Justice McClellan said the Long Term Outcomes of Forgotten Australians (LOFA) study would add to an understanding of a largely unknown part of national history.
"For many children who have spent time in institutions, their experiences were characterised by neglect, maltreatment, deprivation and loss of identity, making the transition into adulthood especially challenging," he said.
Justice McClellan announced a commission public hearing in March would investigate the incidence of child sexual abuse in contemporary out-of-home care and examine care providers from every state and territory.
UNSW's Professor Elizabeth Fernandez is chief investigator on the LOFA project, which is part of a ten-year longitudinal study of children in care.
The research team will interview up to 1000 care leavers and hope the findings, to be handed down at the end of next year, will improve the lives of 40,000 Australian children currently in out-of-home care.
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